Alpha Centauri H [Hardcover]

William Barton (Author), Michael Capobianco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1997

After 14 years of suspended animation, the crew of a spaceship awaken as they near their destination of Alpha Centauri A and B, where they hope to establish a colony to save humanity from extinction. But suddenly they are faced with a deadly viral infection, just as they discover remnants of an alien civilization. A thought-provoking sci-fi adventure.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

From a grossly overpopulated Earth in 2239 A.D., an exploratory colonization mission to Alpha Centauri finds Mies Cochrane carrying an autovirus inside him that, after sexual intercourse, halts conception?the perfect birth control. The explorers discover the remains of an ancient civilization and a way to see what caused their extinction through the eyes of the last, long-dead inhabitant. The authors (Iris, LJ 2/15/90) make a strong statement about overpopulation, solutions to it, and humanity's purpose for existing. This thought-provoking book, a mix of sexually explicit passages and scientific exposition, is recommended for adult sf collections.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

With its population grown to more than 300 billion, Earth in 2239 dispatches an exploratory team to Alpha Centauri. But there is a problem, a schizophrenic named Mies Cochrane, infected with "autoviroids" by a malevolent intelligence called Indigo. Whenever Mies has sex with a woman, he renders her sterile. Thus this particular crew, at least, will never populate the stars. Intriguing, but Barton and Capobianco go ballistic, seldom allowing the reader to escape from sex and sexuality: Mies with women, Mies with a man who has changed into a woman, women with women, until the reader is not only baffled but in agreement with Indigo that the race isn't worth saving. A shame, since the hard sf here is beautifully done, including a breathtaking ride on a storm-tossed alien ocean at two Gs, and an ancient race, complete with cosmology, restored through virtual technology--grand stuff, but Heinlein is rolling in his grave, even so. John Mort

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 438 pages
• Publisher: Eos; 1st. ed edition (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380975114
• ISBN-13: 978-0380975112
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,310,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging, painful, melancholy, but fascinating, February 27, 2002

By 

Davidson (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alpha Centauri (Paperback)

This is a difficult book to like. It does however strive to be what science fiction should be, which is a literature of ideas. As such, it presents an unflinching examination of the darker, complicated aspects of human nature and a profoundly unsympathetic cosmos. I am immediately reminded of the desolate final scenes of H G Wells' The Time Machine or the ruthlessly Darwinian universes of Stephen Baxter's Manifold stories.

In this novel, a group of explorers from a crowded solar system coming close to its malthusian limits arrives at the eponymous stellar system. They are part of an exploration fleet searching for potential colony sites that may be the salvation of humanity. They uncover the ancient ruins of an alien civilisation, maybe two civilisations. The solar system is threatened with total collapse whereas these aliens seemed to have kept their civilisation running for billions of years, but then they finally became extinct. Their worlds are ancient, depleted, but what caused them to die is not as simple as it may seem, and may be a warning to humankind.

What they learn about these beings seems horrible, but their are strange parallels with their own situation. Barton and Capobianco refuse to draw a sharp line between good and evil. They show the compulsions of hunger and sexuality as being intrinsic to life: they may be good, they may be vicious, but they are inseparable from the process of living. Human characters and aliens ephemerally resurrected through advanced simulations each display some aspect or other of the conflicts of desire, purpose and virtue.

To their credit, the authors allow even the apparent villains the qualities of intelligence, sympathy and the need for love, no matter how awful their actions. They argue that even the worst still must be acknowledged as our kin. The point being that one must realise honestly one's animal legacy, but somehow rise above it, and a purely reasonable approach may itself be insuffient. Indeed, as is suggested in the ideology of a shadowy terrorist group called Indigo and in the terminal ennui of a race dubbed the Leospiders, pure reason may lead only to extinction. On the other hand, false religion, shallow pop anthropology and other ideologies are held up only for cruel (and viscerally upsetting) parody.

A fault of this novel (if it is a fault as such) would be in the fact that what hope is offered is of a vague and hard to perceive. In fact, the conclusions are left quite open, balanced on a knife edge. The reader is challenged to argue their own case and their own causes for hope. It is a sceptical book, a hard book, but we do see people striving to be better than they might be. If anything, this is a novel not about the promise of a bright future, but the aching desire for hope.

Ultimately, they suggest whatever one does and whatever fate results from that, it is due to the exercise of awareness, responsibility and choice. Significantly, the most dangerous character, Mies, is also the most pitiful because he has allowed himself to become the puppet of conditioned reflexes, while the principle viewpoint character is named Kai, a word that we are told means "or", indicating uncertainty and ambiguity.

You may find yourself in profound disagreement with the authors, and put off by the frequent and graphic scenes of exploitation and abuse, but it will provoke you into thinking about the questions that they raise.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finish the book no matter how you feel, November 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Alpha Centauri (Paperback)

I think that it is just as confusing to write a review of this book as it was when I first starting reading this book. But here it goes. At first, I wanted to throw this book into the trash. The writing style was hard to follow (initially)and the subjects that were discussed in the novel were....uncomfortable. Which made me want to throw it away all the more. But I continued to read it and boy am I glad that I did. This book deals with so much more than those who have given it negative reviews here. Yes it deals with sex and sexuality. Yes it deals with science and the science of sex and sexuality. Yes it deals with science fiction and the sex behind the science fiction. But if that is all you get out of this book than you didn't dive deep enough into it or didn't finish it. It deals with human nature and our place within the cosmos based on an extinct alien society that is discovered. It plunges head long into human weaknesses and our lack of understanding. It deals with uncomfortable situations with uncomfortable characters. It asks us "do we have the right to be immortal?" "Should we want to be immortal?" Oh yes, folks. This book deals with much more than sex. Pick it up and don't throw it down...although you WILL feel like it, trust me.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not for everyone., July 23, 2001

By 

Brian209 (Central California, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alpha Centauri (Paperback)

A bleak story in an even bleaker future, wound together in an amazing novel. I've noticed that many reviewers here seem to be put off a bit by the amount, and sheer oddity, of the ... in this book. I was too until I realized what the authors were trying to convey...a future where the human race had already begun it's plummet into the abysses of eternity. The human race has nothing to live for and nothing to look forward to, so people only exist for the pleasure of the moment. If you can't understand why there would be a LOT of bizarre ... in a world and culture like that, this book is not for you. The bizarre ... of this novel forces you to realize that the Earth of the twenty third century is populated by people without morals, without caring, and without boundaries, and it forces you to come to grips with the desperation of the situation. You will also find youself debating whether mankind DESERVES its fate, or if we are all ultimately redeemable and deserve a second chance.

The story itself is about the crew of the Mother Night, a small ship launched into the darkness of space, looking to change all that. They are looking for a new home, and a new future, for humanity. What they find, and the lessons they learn, cast a grim pall over the future prospects for mankind. It is a powerful story that makes the reader wonder once more, "Why are we here, and what do we hope to accomplish?"

If you can avoid fixating on the ..., Alpha Centauri is a moving story that asks several deep philosophical questions. I recommend it strongly to anyone with an open mind.